Love's Funny Ways
by Pure Chocolatte
Summary: Shikamaru has a choice to make and his IQ of 200 is not much help in this case. Sigh, troublesome women... ShikaTema oneshot, drabbleish.


Title: Love's Funny Ways

A/N: ShikaTema one-shot. Funny little idea that popped up in my head while I was in the shower. Yes, shower. Maybe the shampoo has some funny idea-bestowing herb in it or something that leaked into my brain. Or the water. Wow, magical water. That'd be cool. So anyway, Shikamaru has a choice to make, and boy, is it troublesome. Serves him right, freaking sexist. Drabble-ish. R & R, thx. Don't own Naruto, sad no?

**Love's Funny Ways**

Shikamaru had a choice to make. He could either pick the perfect wife, or _her_.

This was way too troublesome for a Sunday morning in the Nara household, he sighed. Both women were as beautiful as the other, but otherwise, they could not be more different.

He looked over to the right. She sat there, shy and docile. Her small paper fan laid in front of her, frail and delicate, was used more as a decorative item than to cool herself. She was dressed in a bright flowery kimono, dark eyes lowered meekly, palms folded primly in her lap. She was quiet and obedient, willing to do anything to please her husband. She would be wonderful in the kitchen and with the kids. She could cook and sew and sing lullabies.

He looked over to the left. She stood there, proud and rebellious. Her giant metal fan, strapped to her back glinted in the light; in her hands, it was a deadly weapon. Her arms were crossed over her dark ninja outfit, teal eyes blazing into his like wild fire. She was tough and undomesticated, her gentle moments as rare as a snowstorm in June. She would pick arguments with him just for fun. She only cooked for survival and sewed wounds, not cloth. She sang lullabies to no one.

Then, he glanced at the spot between them. His parents stood there, father's hand clasping his mother's, waiting for him to make the choice. He wondered why they didn't kick the girl on the left out for crashing into their home uninvited ON HIS ENGAGEMENT DAY and demanding he make the choice _now_. No, they hadn't done that. They only repeated her question.

"_Which woman do you really love, Shikamaru?"_

It was supposed to be easy, he was the one who had asked his parents to arrange his marriage for him, he had been too lazy to find and woo a woman. Fat lot of good that was, seeing as this Suna kunoichi seemed to have somehow caught wind of it and was now stirring up some trouble, not that he expected anything less from her.

This was, by far, the most troublesome thing he had to do in the whole of his twenty-five years of life. For a genius like him, this should be easy.

He should pick the one on the right. She was perfect for a laid-back guy like him, one who shirked responsibility faster than a cat shirked water. She wasn't difficult to handle nor would he have to worry about her life because she wasn't a ninja. She wouldn't make his life too exciting, and he didn't particularly like exciting stuff anyway. He just wanted a mediocre life, nothing too much. Just like her. She was compliant and submissive as a slow flowing river.

The girl on the left had her own mind and definitely could not be restrained. She was an aggressive kunoichi and did A-ranked missions without turning a hair. Aggressiveness was troublesome. He hated trouble. She would probably poke fun at him and annoy him all day, then suddenly say or do something with a remote innuendo of affection towards him, completely confusing him. Moreover, she had spunk. Shikamaru didn't like being confused and he didn't appreciate spunk, especially not in a female. She was untamable and fierce as the winds of the desert.

The choice was obvious.

"Temari."

The girl on the left smirked, like she knew he would pick her all along, and he wouldn't be surprised if she did. She was, after all, nearing -though not quite reaching- his level of intelligence.

And his parents shared a secret smile between them. The other girl wondered why he had picked that ruffian over her, but she didn't question him, it wasn't her place. She was just relieved that she did not have to deal with that scary rival anymore, even if her father would be mad at her for breaking the engagement.

Shikamaru didn't lose his apathetic, lazy expression. He merely yawned and stated how troublesome this whole thing was before walking out of the house to get some breakfast. He threw a glance at Temari over his shoulder and said, "You coming or what?"

She shrugged and followed him out and Shikamaru let her put her hand on his arm. He glanced at her before looking up at the sky. He dropped his air of lethargy for a second and smiled.

After all, the wind was what made his beloved clouds move along.


End file.
